President merits our patience

I will be the first to admit that I do not really follow politics. I do read the stories and watch the news and I do value people's opinions. But there is something I do not understand.

President Obama has been in office not even a full year yet, but all I read about are people complaining about his work with the country. Personally, I feel that, with everything that has been thrown in his lap since he took office, he is doing a good job. He is trying his best to correct years and years of downfall in this country.

People are far too interested in instant gratification and expected that as soon as he was elected big changes would happen almost immediately. Well, what I am seeing is like a small snowball on top of a big mountain that is slowly getting bigger every inch it travels, subtle changes that will begin to better all Americans during the long haul toward the future.

I say, sit back and relax. Enjoy life as it is. And for goodness sake, give the man a chance to do his job.

Cynthia Kodger

Curtice

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which is why Carty had his news conference about the new trash containers on a street with no cars parked along its length. Every house had a nice flat driveway out to the street.

Now, in all fairness, the cameras should go down the side streets in some of the older parts of the city, where there are cars parked bumper to bumper on both sides. And no driveways.

I have no driveway and a 10-foot hill to drag these containers up and down. What is going to happen when we get a couple feet of snow? The way it is now, we very seldom see a snowplow because one can't get down the street. If you call the city, they say “We will look into it.” How many of us have heard that response?

It's been three years since they picked up the leaves on our street. Some people are counting the days until Christmas. I'm counting the days until Carty is gone.

Alan Kine

4th Street

Your paper ran an article on Dec. 3 about Kristina Keneally, an ex-resident of the Toledo area. You should have done a bit of research as the headline stated that she was “elected” as premier of New South Wales.

This is incorrect. She was not elected by the people of New South Wales but installed as premier by the Labour party, the governing political party in that state.

It needs to be pointed out that New South Wales is currently best described as as a “basket case.” The majority of voters did not want a new premier; they wanted an election to be held to get rid of the Labour government.

Ms. Keneally was accused by her opponent of being a puppet of the right-wing faction of Labour. She is the fourth leader of the party in the last four years. I think this sums it up.

I know you're probably proud of her as an ex-Toledo- area resident, but you need to get the facts straight.

John Farrell

Tenambit New South Wales Australia

Your Dec. 1 editorial, “India's value,” is a welcome sign of earned friendship and trust between the United States and India. However, I believe the writer has missed or misconceived a few facts.

The editorial says “anything that United States does to improve relationship with Pakistan, such as providing billions in aid, will provoke Indian resentment.” The fact is that India does not resent aid to a country but, like all of us, believes that Pakistan cannot refuse to be accountable as to how and where billions of dollars are being used, and by refusing to do so shows defiance and arrogance toward the donor country which is us — the United States.

Another statement, even more absurd, says, “Pakistan is reluctant to take wholehearted action against the Taliban in Afghanistan and some of its own border regions in that it suspects India might make alienated Taliban India's potential friend and ally.”

Such an occurrence would be unthinkable by virtue of the Taliban lifestyle, behavior, goals, objectives, and historical background, all of which are in direct conflict with India, its people, and their way of life.

Hopefully this clears some of the misconceptions, creates better understanding, and opens the door for building long-lasting relations.

Lachman V. Chablani

Maumee

I got a chuckle out of the recent letter that suggested that Toledo City Council push for a citywide speed limit of 5 miles per hour because I saw it for the satire it was. But the writer was from Bowling Green and, as a Toledoan, I must ask out-of-towners to please not feed our politicians any ideas because they're apt to be taken seriously.

Oh, sure, it starts off as a joke, but the next thing you know, Sue Fredericks is standing in my backyard issuing me a citation for pulling down my driveway at 6 miles an hour. Meanwhile, across town, Joe McNamara is campaigning on the platform that he figured out how to slow down the exodus from Toledo. Literally.

Doug Tabner

Grantwood Drive

In regard to your Nov. 30 guest editorial: How nice for the board of trustees at Kent State University to reward President Lester Lofton with a generous salary for enrollment and retention.

Sometimes, retention is involuntary. My daughter attended Owens Community College in lieu of her senior year in high school thinking this would get her through KSU in three years. Because of scheduling at KSU for the required courses for a degree and the oftentimes unavailability of these courses, she will be one of the “retainees.”

Maybe President Lofton will somehow reward her for retaining her and taking a year from her wage-earning career. What are the changes? About as good as the board of trustees ever lowering his salary for picking the pockets of those who so dearly pay his wages.

Dan Petersen

Curtice

During my visit to Toledo for the holidays, I have been regaled by The Blade's serial publication of excerpts from Kenneth Dickson's Benjamin Franklin Stickney and the Maumee Valley. I look forward to each day's installment.

But my real reason for writing is to express my appreciation for your sober and objective assessment of President Obama's decision to escalate the war on Afghanistan.

I have never had any illusions about his intentions in this regard, but for those who have, his decision to deploy additional troops there must have been disillusioning in the extreme, and few can miss the rather obvious parallel with America's embroilment and defeat in Vietnam, not to mention Russia's similar overreach and defeat in Afghanistan.

It is to be hoped that other journals across the nation will make as careful and critical assessment, at which point Americans might finally wake up and ask why, if there is no legitimate purpose to our continuing this war, does the candidate of “change” want more of the same?

Ken Freeland

Cedardale Court

Since Mayor Carty Finkbeiner will soon be out of a job, I am wondering if he will be available to help the elderly and handicapped get their garbage cans to the curb on their pickup day.